Calgary Minute: Budget Benefits, TikTok Banned, and Land Use Amendments

Calgary Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Calgary politics

This Week In Calgary:

• There will be a Public Hearing Meeting of Council on Tuesday at 9:30 am. On the agenda are multiple minor land use amendments - a baker’s dozen of them to be exact.
  
  
• On Wednesday, at 9:30 am, there will be a meeting of the Audit Committee. The Committee will establish a Bylaw Review Working Group to review the City Auditor’s Bylaw and the Audit Committee Bylaw.
  
  
• The Calgary Planning Commission will meet on Thursday at 1:00 pm to deal with more land use amendments. The Event Centre Committee will meet on Friday at 9:30 am. No agenda is available for this meeting yet.

Last Week In Calgary:

• The Province released the 2023-26 budget and recommitted to transportation funding for Calgary projects. The LRT system will see a $541 million investment over three years, with $5 million in grant money for the engineering work needed to extend the Blue Line north. A further $429.7 million has been earmarked for the Deerfoot Trail expansion and $134.2 million will go toward the completion of the Calgary Ring Road. Mayor Jyoti Gondek said she’s pleased with the transportation funding as it signals the Province is interested in partnering with the City.
  
  
• The provincial budget included several health care commitments for Calgary. Over the next three years, $3 million will be made available to plan for a North Calgary/Airdrie regional health centre. While the centre will technically be in Airdrie, it will also serve Rocky View County and North Calgary residents. The budget also recommitted funding to previously announced health projects in Calgary, including $156 million for the Calgary Cancer Centre, $33 million in redevelopment funding for the Peter Lougheed Care Unit and Lab, $51 million for the the Rockyview General Hospital ICU, and $2 million for the Foothills ICU.
  
  
• The City of Calgary banned TikTok on all government-issued mobile devices, effective March 1st. Both the federal and provincial governments have made similar decisions recently, citing privacy concerns with TikTok’s data collection methods. There have not been any reported breaches of privacy relating to government devices, however banning the app was a proactive step.

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